48th GST Council Meeting Highlights

GST

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17 December,2022 

The 48th GST Council meeting was held on 17th December 2022, Saturday, virtually from New Delhi. Smt Nirmala Sitharaman, the Union Finance Minister, chaired the meeting, along with the Finance Ministers of the states/Union Territories. Eight points out of 15 items on the Council’s agenda, including data-sharing matters, were discussed.

Summary of Key Highlights of the 48th GST Council meeting are as follows :-

• Decriminalisation of three kinds of offences under GST: Obstruction of duties of an officer, the threshold amount of tax for launching criminal offence under GST increased from the current limit of Rs.1 crore to 2 crores, except where fake invoices are involved and to reduce the workload of courts decriminalised the compounding of offence up to a limit;
• A few GST rate rationalisation matters were taken up – GST on pulse husks for cattle feed (including chilka and concentrates) was reduced to nil from 5%. Further, the concessional 5% GST on ethyl alcohol was extended to refineries for blending with petrol, which was earlier charged at 18%.
• Clarifications were given on a few taxation matters, such as the GST on equipment used by petroleum companies for exploration and how to deal with mismatches of invoices in GSTR-1 vs GSTR-3B in the early years.
• e-Commerce operators can allow the suppliers to be registered under the composition scheme and unregistered vendors, facilitating e-commerce for all the micro-enterprises.
• The second report on casinos and online gaming was not circulated and hence not part of the 48th meeting agenda.
• No decision has been taken on any GST rate hike.
• Cess on SUV at 22% clarified- Applicable if meets 4 criteria-
  • Popularly known as SUV, 
  • The engine capacity of more than 1500 cc,
  • Length more than 4000 mm and
  • Ground clearance equal to or more than 170 mm
• Further, Council clarified that no GST on insurance is levied on the No-claim bonus offered by insurance companies, so it is deductible from the premium without a GST charge.

Go!